Giustina Secundo, Susana Elena- Perez, Žilvinas Martinaitis and Karl-Heinz Leitner
The public sector is one of the least addressed areas of intellectual capital (IC) research. Universities are an interesting area of investigation because they are considered…
Abstract
Purpose
The public sector is one of the least addressed areas of intellectual capital (IC) research. Universities are an interesting area of investigation because they are considered critical players in the knowledge-based society. The purpose of this paper is to develop a more general, flexible and comprehensive “IC Maturity Model” for Universities (ICMM), a framework for defining and implementing IC measurement and management approaches, as part of the whole strategic management of universities. Thus, the ICMM proposes a staged framework to initiate a step-by-step change within a university based upon its current level of IC management maturity. The different steps of maturity might be an answer to cope with the huge diversity of European universities, some of which have strong managerial orientation, while others follow collegial forms of governance.
Design/methodology/approach
The research approach is based on what has been called the “third stage” of IC research (Dumay and Garanina, 2013), focused on the practices of IC approaches rather than on its theoretical conceptualisation. The ICMM has been developed under the “Quality Assurance in Higher Education through Habilitation and Auditing” project framework, initiated by the Executive Agency for Higher Education and Research Funding of Romania (EUFISCDI). Three Mutual Learning Workshops (MLWs) were organised as a mean to bring together 15 international experts and practitioners to share their views and experience on IC reporting and setting up task forces.
Findings
An ICMM, which is a flexible model of implementing IC approaches within public universities, is developed. The ICMM provides a theoretical continuum along which the process of maturity can be developed incrementally from one level to the next, moving from IC data collection, awareness of IC, adjustment of IC specific indicators, measurement of IC, reporting of IC, interpretation and decision making, strategy and planning.
Research limitations/implications
Future research needs to conduct empirical studies in universities to generalise the effectiveness of the ICMM model and guidelines for implementation.
Practical implications
The ICMM provides a staged framework to initiate a step-by-step change within a university based upon its current level of IC management maturity and its IC value creation dynamics. It allows universities to follow different paths, not necessarily a linear sequence.
Originality/value
Although several methods for IC measurement and management exist, most of these cannot accommodate the trade-off between the comparability aims and the efforts to capture the institution’s uniqueness when designing an IC model.
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Susana Elena‐Pérez, Ozcan Saritas, Katja Pook and Campbell Warden
This paper aims to explore the possibilities of combining foresight techniques and intellectual capital management, as two approaches of participatory strategic management, in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the possibilities of combining foresight techniques and intellectual capital management, as two approaches of participatory strategic management, in higher education institutions. The objective is to generate concrete benefits for prospective strategic management in the academic sector. It also aims to focus on how it may be possible for universities to address the challenges of major change management programmes by implementing foresight and intellectual capital management models.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews recent literature both on conceptual issues and experiences in relation to foresight and intellectual capital. The paper presents an ongoing project focused on the development of a vision for the future of the higher education system in Romania and a frame to differentiate Romanian universities.
Findings
A proposal of an integrated use of foresight and intellectual capital management for universities is suggested. The case study presented illustrates how foresight provides an excellent approach to address the question of how to develop a shared vision of the future and jointly define a strategy to best adapt an organization to the new context, and intellectual capital management models play a role in strategic management, resource allocation and monitoring of objectives and organization performance.
Practical implications
The issues addressed in the paper could provide the starting point for better integration of strategic management in higher education institutions.
Originality/value
The paper explores two concepts closely related but that have not been analysed together: the relationship between Intellectual capital approaches and foresight.
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Iván Lidón López, Ignacio Gil-Pérez, Rubén Rebollar, Susana Díez-Calvo and Elena Heras-Romanos
This paper aims to investigate how implying movement in food packaging imagery may affect product liking. Furthermore, the underlying mechanism is investigated by studying the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate how implying movement in food packaging imagery may affect product liking. Furthermore, the underlying mechanism is investigated by studying the effect of implied motion visuals on design appeal and naturalness perception.
Design/methodology/approach
Two packages of pineapple juice were designed in which the implied motion depicted in their imagery was manipulated, and a tasting experiment was conducted in which two samples of the same juice were evaluated.
Findings
The results show that the effect of packaging imagery on product liking occurs indirectly through both design appeal and the product naturalness perception. The results of a parallel multiple-mediator analysis show that (1) depicting implied motion made the package be perceived as more appealing, (2) the product corresponding to the package depicting implied motion was perceived as being more natural, and (3) both effects equally contributed to the positive effect of visuals depicting implied motion on product liking.
Originality/value
Overall, these findings widen our understanding of the effects of packaging design on product liking and may help both designers and manufacturers design more appropriate packaging for their products.
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Felix Barahona Márquez, Susana Domingo Pérez and Ernest Solé Udina
This chapter focuses on the relationship between biotechnology start-ups and larger pharmaceutical corporations when they work as partners in innovation strategic alliances. For…
Abstract
This chapter focuses on the relationship between biotechnology start-ups and larger pharmaceutical corporations when they work as partners in innovation strategic alliances. For three decades, these companies have become major players in innovation in the health sector. This means that the development of many products is a result of the cooperation they carry out. However, due to the great differences between these companies, certain problems can often arise. More specifically, our analysis explores the perceptions of the achievement expected by each partner. This is an important aspect to determine the satisfaction of these firms among strategic alliance. The authors follow qualitative methods to address the topic, conducting personal interviews with managers of these companies. Our findings reveal the concrete facts that can prevent reaching the proposed goals of these partners as well as stress the crucial importance of the human aspect to mitigate potential problems.
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Amal Al Muqarshi, Sharifa Said Al Adawi and Sara Mohammed Al Bahlani
A majority of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Oman, and internationally, have adopted English as the language of education, driven by its power and its globally accepted…
Abstract
Purpose
A majority of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Oman, and internationally, have adopted English as the language of education, driven by its power and its globally accepted status as the language of knowledge and communication. Such an internationalisation policy has been inadequately evaluated to examine its actual effects. This paper aims at analysing the existing literature with a view to hypothesise the effects of adopting English as a medium of instruction (EMI) on establishing intellectual capital in the Omani context.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employs a case study design that draws on data generated through a systematic review of 94 peer-reviewed papers that are synthesised using thematic analysis.
Findings
The findings indicate that EMI negatively affects the optimal creation of intellectual capital through limiting access to HE, hindering knowledge transfer, impeding Omanis' employability and hindering faculty's professional growth. EMI leads HEIs to mirror the supplying countries' cultures in terms of materials, ideologies and standards. It affects teaching and research quality, training and communication, the sense of equity, belonging and self-worth amongst students and the relationships amongst faculty members. It also increases reliance on external stakeholders.
Research limitations/implications
The paper highlights the interconnection between the forms of intellectual capital and how some components are antecedents to the creation of the intellectual capital forms. It establishes the moderating role the language of instruction plays in relation to the three sub forms of intellectual capital in higher education.
Practical implications
The paper calls for maximising higher education intellectual capital through adopting bilingual rather than monolingual higher education. It calls upon policymakers to revisit the assumptions underlying higher education systems in order to optimise their outcomes.
Originality/value
The paper is the first one that sheds light on the role of language in intellectual capital construction. Such a moderating role has received almost no attention in the higher education literature that is largely busy quantifying its outcomes rather than ensuring they are actually sustainably generated.
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Pedro Limón López and Sergio Claudio González García
Links between urban areas and public space have always had a central presence in the field of Urban Sociology. During the last four decades, and in relation with globalization…
Abstract
Links between urban areas and public space have always had a central presence in the field of Urban Sociology. During the last four decades, and in relation with globalization processes, reflection about city places and what constitutes the “public” has increasingly been in line with what has been called an “emplacing heritage process,” which emerged as a controversial point of intervention in urban areas. In this sense, itineraries have been considered of primary importance in urban heritage signification, recognition, and symbolic production. In short, these routes appear as ways in which public space is materially and symbolically occupied, becoming emplacing heritage processes in themselves.
In this chapter, we study two heritage-making processes through neighborhood itineraries, which are carried out in district territory and are located in two peripheral neighborhoods belonging to the City of Madrid (Hortaleza and Carabanchel). Ultimately, the point here is that these routes are not merely a pathway that “goes” along acknowledged heritage places; these itineraries are an emplacement and a signification of patrimony itself. These processes act as markers of iconic places and as remembrance performances of neighborhood memory. We would argue that routes around historical places in Carabanchel, as well as the “Three Wise Men” popular parades in Hortaleza bring shared geographical imaginaries, collective memory, and iconic places together in everyday experiences of both places. These itineraries change both urban sites in terms of their neighborhood heritage by disputing spatial discourses and imaginaries of heritage, urban place, and neighborhood.